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Wider Europe

Modern politics has seen a renewed discussion about the balance between active political participation by the citizens and their representation in politics. Much of this debate centers on a dilemma: too much citizen participation is unsustainable, while too little participation creates a gap between citizens and their elected governments.

The problems facing democracy in Europe today include low levels of public participation and support for political parties as well as massive protests demanding responsive and accountable government accords the continent.

In the east, countries from Ukraine to Moldova are experiencing both large democratic challenges and rapid democratic reforms in response. In the established democracies of Central and Western Europe, large-scale citizen protests and decreasing citizen participation through traditional institutions are questioning the legitimacy of once stable democratic processes. These changes have rapidly increased the demand for our support by actors across the Wider Europe region.

Experts from International IDEA and Centre for Policy and Legal Reforms discuss institutional design options for semi-presidential system of governance, Kiev, Ukraine, 10 July 2017. Photo credit: International IDEA.

Country & Regional Support

Ukraine

Since 2015, International IDEA has initiated multiple projects in Ukraine that aim to support democratic consolidation. To fill a knowledge gap, it provided translations of some of its more well-known publications into Ukrainian and Russian, including on money in politics and design of electoral management bodies . At an early stage of constitution-reform process, the Institute shared knowledge with national civic groups on how to increase public engagement in the constitution-building process, and more recently, hosted discussions with national experts how to structure powers and relations between the three branches of government to enable effective functioning of semi-presidential governments.

International IDEA also gives technical advice for combating political corruption. Lastly, the Wider Europe Programme is conducting a range of assessments of the State of Local Democracy in Ukraine. This especially focuses on mid-sized cities, where past conflicts between mayors and city councils have hampered effective functioning of democracy at the local level.

Georgia

Georgia is considered a positive case of democratic development, in which International IDEA has been involved from as far back as the early 2000s . Its democratic reforms, functioning democratic institutions, and peaceful electoral transitions of the past years constitute an exemplary model of democratic developments among new democracies in Eastern Europe. With positive record of reforms in the past, the country continues to face challenges in consolidating and deepening its democratic processes.

Over the past years, International IDEA’s focus in Georgia has been on the area of Money in Politics, as well as citizen participation in politics. It has worked with Georgian actors such as the State Audit Office, the Central Elections Commission and local civil society. At the end of 2016, Georgia launched an online reporting and disclosure system for political party donations , to which International IDEA has contributed with international comparative knowledge.

Moldova

After several large corruption scandals hit Moldova in the past years, the country has undergone turbulent political developments. Citizen protests, a dynamic and engaged civil society and international pressure have helped intensify reforms in the past few years, including in increasing the integrity of electoral processes, and mitigating the negative role of money in politics.

Since mid-2015, International IDEA has engaged in Moldovan democratic reform and institutional strengthening. Together with the Centre for Continuous Electoral Training and the Central Electoral Commission, it has worked on enhancing political finance oversight. International IDEA is also working to assess the current state of local democracy, using its long-standing tested tools in this field.

In 2017, International IDEA therefore brought together electoral commissions, cybersecurity agencies and independent experts to discuss how their countries are dealing with the phenomenon of hacking in elections .